Huge crowds turn out for the Irreecha festival, in the capital Addis Ababa for the first time.
Huge crowds turned out in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, as it hosted for the first time in more than a century the annual Irreecha thanksgiving festival of the Oromo, the country's largest ethnic group.
City officials said they were expecting 10 million people to take part, though the final attendance figures are hard to estimate.Previously, the annual festival had been celebrated in Bishoftu, 40km away, but similar gatherings have taken place in other parts of Oromia at different times of the year.
But some say it is an attempt by the ruling party to cultivate popular support ahead of next year's general election, reports the BBC's Kalkidan Yibeltal.There are thought to be at least 40 million Oromos in Ethiopia, making up more than 30% of the population. The beadwork, known as chelie, that these women are wearing on their foreheads is common to all Oromos, but their clothes are typical of people from the Borena region.
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